Many businesses function as intermediaries in transactions between individual buyers and sellers. Consignment shops are a well-established example of a type of business which allows individuals to sell items by displaying the item at the consignment shop. The consignment shop facilitates transactions between sellers and buyers and typically takes a fee from the seller and/or the buyer. A number of other traditional businesses operate in this manner, such as pawnshops, auction houses, and used car dealers. The widespread acceptance and use of the Internet has led to a new type of business, referred to here as a “market facilitation system,” which operates by facilitating commerce between individuals. An example of a market facilitation system is EBAY®, an Internet auction house. These market facilitation systems profit by charging sellers and/or buyers a fee for each item sold. Other types of market facilitation systems purchase information or services from individual sellers. For example, individuals may act as consultants or experts and receive payment from a central service for consulting services rendered to end users. For simplicity, each of these various types of businesses and merchants that function as transaction intermediaries or buyers of goods or services from individuals will generically be referred to here as “intermediaries.” Further, individuals or entities that sell goods or services to these intermediaries will be referred to as “sellers.” Typically, these sellers will be individuals who are non-commercial sellers of good or services.
The revenue, and therefore success, of each of these intermediaries primarily depends on their ability to collect a fee or commission on each transaction. Competition and market conditions limit the ability of these intermediaries to increase the size of the fee or commissions charged. It would be desirable for these intermediaries to develop an additional revenue source from transactions. It would be further desirable to develop a revenue source which does not alienate customers by raising fees or costs charged to the customer for a transaction.
Another problem encountered by intermediaries involves the difficulty of efficiently paying the seller. For example, an intermediary may receive an item from a seller and then sell it to a buyer days or weeks later. Once payment from the buyer is received, the intermediary must pay the seller. Typically, this is done by paying the seller in cash or by using a check. This can be time-consuming and inefficient for both the intermediary and the seller. It would be desirable to provide an improved method for paying a seller which still allows the intermediary to encourage a seller to open a new financial account. Further, it would be desirable to provide an efficient and prompt payment mechanism for these types of transactions. It would be advantageous to provide a method and apparatus that overcame the drawbacks of the prior art.